Humphrey continues to excel in life outside of Burroughs

Thursday

Jan 24, 2013 at 1:17 PMJan 24, 2013 at 3:03 PM

Former Burroughs pole vaulter and football player Nate Humphrey continues to excel outside of the athletic arena as a part of the Navy.Nate works on a submarine right now as an Electrician’s Mate in a port off the Charleston, SC, shores.“When you get on a submarine with your crew, and each person has each other’s lives in their hands, the group of people you’re with all become close friends and we rely on each other for our safety. It’s a whole other level of camaraderie,” Nate said.

Brad KesterDI Sports

Former Burroughs pole vaulter and football player Nate Humphrey continues to excel outside of the athletic arena as a part of the Navy.Nate works on a submarine right now as an Electrician’s Mate in a port off the Charleston, SC, shores. “When you get on a submarine with your crew, and each person has each other’s lives in their hands, the group of people you’re with all become close friends and we rely on each other for our safety. It’s a whole other level of camaraderie,” Nate said. Nate graduated from Burroughs two years ago. Since then, he has been through the rigors of boot camp and has been tested mentally through an intense training process, which got him ready for his job on his submarine.Leaving home for the first time was a difficult thing for him and his family, but Nate’s dad gave him a quote that helped him to battle through the tough moments of training and boot camp.“I actually have a verse from when I left that my dad gave me,” Nate said. “It’s Psalms 27:1. That passage pretty much helped me through any hardship that I had.”The verse says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?With that quote from his dad, Nate went through grueling testing regiments and came out successful. He was up for a 24-hour span where he went through a battle simulation on a boat to become a sailor then endured 12-hour school days to learn about his job on the submarine.“Probably finishing the nuclear schools was the one experience I’ve enjoyed the most,” Nate said. “There was a lot of work that went into me finishing that program. I had 12-hour days of school then I would have to go home and study afterward, so it was a great feeling when I completed that.“After eight weeks of boot camp, we were put into a simulated battle called battle stations. We were on a ship and we did different parts of our training such as working with missiles and rescuing bodies from fires. It was pretty cool. We had to work with the people in our troop to accomplish certain goals. That was probably the time that everyone finally came together as a team.” Nate also had the chance to come back and be the honorary member of the Navy during Burroughs football’s Military Night on Sept. 21.“It was awe inspiring,” Nate said.The former Burroughs athlete has done and seen a lot since leaving Ridgecrest a short time ago, but he still misses the sports aspect of his high school experience.“I definitely miss pole vaulting and football,” Nate said. “Getting to be out there and competing with friends is hard to beat.”